Apr 21, 2022 - World

UN: More than 7.7 million people displaced inside Ukraine

Ivana Saric

Three small children in Odessa — A bus transporting 300 evacuees from Mykolaiv - mostly women, children and people with disabilities - arrives in Odesa. Photo: NurPhoto / Contributor via Getty Images

More than 7.7 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion, the UN migration agency said Thursday.

Driving the news: The figure represents 17% of the Ukraine's population. The number of displaced people has risen 9% since the agency's previous assessment at the start of April, and 19% since its first assessment in mid-March.

Women represent at least 60% of displaced persons in Ukraine, the agency said.
More than half of internally displaced Ukrainians — particularly in the country's east — reported a lack of food, and 28% of families with children under the age of five said they'd experienced difficulties getting enough food for their children, compared to 25% who said the same at the start of April.

The big picture: “Women and children, the elderly, and people with disabilities have been disproportionately affected as they all represent a highly vulnerable group of people,” said António Vitorino, the director general of the International Organization for Migration, in the press release.

In addition to internally displacing millions, the war has forced more than 5 million refugees to flee Ukraine.

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UN: More than 7.7 million people displaced inside Ukraine

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